The Silk that is Allowed for Men (Ahadith 2563 – 2567)

Bismillah.

Ahadith 2560 – 2562 (below) is a repeat. See linked text for related posts.

Volume 4, Book 52, Number 165 :
Narrated by ‘Aisha (radiallaahu `anhaa)
Allah’s Apostle (sallallaahu `alayhi wasallam) died while his (iron) armor was mortgaged to a Jew for thirty Sa’s of barley.

Volume 4, Book 52, Number 166 :
Narrated by Abu Huraira (radiallaahu `anhu)
The Prophet (sallallaahu `alayhi wasallam) said, “The example of a miser and the one who gives in charity, is like the example of two men wearing iron cloaks so tightly that their arms are raised forcibly towards their collar-bones. So, whenever a charitable person wants to give in charity, his cloak spreads over his body so much so that it wipes out his traces, but whenever the miser wants to give in charity, the rings (of the iron cloak) come closer to each other and press over his body, and his hands gets connected to his collar-bones. Abu Huraira (radiallaahu `anhu) heard the Prophet (sallallaahu `alayhi wasallam) saying. “The miser then tries to widen it but in vain.”

Volume 4, Book 52, Number 167 :
Narrated by Al-Mughira bin Shu’ba (radiallaahu `anhu)
Allah’s Apostle (sallallaahu `alayhi wasallam) went out to answer the call of nature and on his return I brought some water to him. He performed the ablution while he was wearing a Sha’mi cloak. He rinsed his mouth and washed his nose by putting water in it and then blowing it out, and washed his face. Then he tried to take out his hands through his sleeves but they were tight, so he took them out from underneath, washed them and passed wet hands over his head and over his leather socks.

Today’s Ahadith:

Volume 4, Book 52, Number 168 :
Narrated by Anas (radiallaahu `anhu)
The Prophet (sallallaahu `alayhi wasallam) allowed ‘Abdur-Rahman bin ‘Auf and Az-Zubair (radiallaahu `anhumaa) to wear silken shirts because they had a skin disease causing itching.

Volume 4, Book 52, Number 169 :
Narrated by Anas (radiallaahu `anhu)
As above.

Volume 4, Book 52, Number 170 :
Narrated by Anas (radiallaahu `anhu)
Abdur Rahman bin ‘Auf and Az-Zubair (radiallaahu `anhumaa) complained to the Prophet (sallallaahu `alayhi wasallam), i.e. about the lice (that caused itching) so he allowed them to wear silken clothes. I saw them wearing such clothes in a holy battle.

Volume 4, Book 52, Number 171 :
Narrated by Anas (radiallaahu `anhu)
The Prophet (sallallaahu `alayhi wasallam) allowed ‘Abdur-Rahman bin ‘Auf and Az-Zubair bin Al-‘Awwam (radiallaahu `anhumaa) to wear silk.

Volume 4, Book 52, Number 172 :
Narrated by Anas (radiallaahu `anhu)
(Wearing of silk) was allowed to them (i.e. ‘AbdurRahman and Az-Zubair) because of the itching they suffered from.

The scholars are agreed that it is permissible for women to wear and use pure silk, and that it is haraam for men to do so, because of the hadeeth of ‘Ali ibn Abi Taalib (may Allaah be pleased with him), who said that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) took a piece of silk in his right hand and a piece of gold in his left, held them aloft and said: “These are haraam for the males of my ummah and permitted for the females.” (Reported by Ibn Maajah, 2/1189).

Abu Moosa (may Allaah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Gold and silk have been permitted for the females of my ummah and forbidden for the males.” Indeed, a stern warning has been narrated concerning this matter, as was reported by al-Bukhaari (5853) and Muslim (2069) in the hadeeth of Ibn ‘Umar (may Allaah be pleased with them both), who reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Silk is only worn in this world by the one who will have no share of the pleasure of the Hereafter.” Anas (may Allaah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever wears silk in this world will not wear it in the Hereafter.” (Reported by al-Bukhaari, 5832).

The scholars allowed men to wear silk in certain exceptional circumstances where there is shar’i evidence to support this, such as Muslim combatants in war who are allowed to wear silk in order to show off and annoy the enemy, which is a kind of psychological warfare. People who are sick may also be permitted to wear silk to relieve their suffering, as Anas reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) allowed ‘Abd al-Rahmaan ibn ‘Awf and Ibn al-Zubayr (may Allaah be pleased with them both) to wear silk because of a skin irritation that they suffered from. (Reported by al-Bukhaari, 10/295, and Muslim, 3/1646).

The scholars also allowed men to wear garments containing four fingers’ width of silk, because of the hadeeth of ‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab (may Allaah be pleased with him) who said that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) forbade the wearing of silk except for an area the width of two fingers, or three or four.” (Reported by Muslim, 3/1644).

With regard to the matters mentioned in the question, the issue is not what a thing is called but what it really is. If the item that a man is going to wear is made of natural silk, then it is not permissible for him to wear it, no matter how it looks or feels, and no matter whether it is a shirt, pants, socks, a necktie or anything else. And Allaah knows best.

Taken from IslamQA

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